March 9, 2023

Google has warned employees that this year will see fewer promotions to higher-level positions than in previous years.

Google told staff in an email sent Monday that the changes were being made to match a slowed pace of hiring. The email was sent to announce the start of the company’s first promotion process for 2023, known internally as GRAD (Googler Reviews and Development), where staff are also given raises.

“If your manager believes that you are ready to be promoted, they will nominate you,” the email said. Workers in technical roles who want to “self-nominate” will have a “short window of time” between March 6-8 to do so, the email said.

“The process is manager-led and will be largely similar to last year — though with our slower pace of hiring, we are planning for fewer promotions into L6 and above than when Google was growing quickly,” Google told employees. The L6 includes people with about a decade of experience.

The changes are being implemented as Google launches a new performance review system called Google Reviews and Development (GRAD), which will result in more Google employees receiving low performance ratings and fewer receiving high marks.

The sources for this piece include an article in CNBC.